Award
Event
Winner
NZ Bear Hunt by Deb Hoffman
In brief
NZ Bear Hunt started as a little idea, turned into a nationwide movement, remaining local and community-oriented. The concept is to put teddy bears or toys in a window facing the street and to pin your bear to an on-line map. Walkers explore their neighbourhood, tracking down households taking part.
The detail
(From nomination form)
The project was initiated prior to the Level 4 COVID19 lockdown to make walking more interactive and interesting for people, especially children. Deb saw that some children may need a little encouragement to go out walking and thought that if it was turned into a game it may become more appealing. She was also keen to promote mental wellbeing of the community at large and start the conversation about feelings (while uploading images one can specify ‘how your bear is feeling today’.) Deb knew that connection, bringing joy and kindness would be a welcome distraction in a time of isolation and forced disconnect and can raise the importance of reaching out to others in times of crisis.
Originally, Deb had created a map on Google maps, this started to crash at the point of 100,000 map visits. Thankfully Sam from Traverse services (a mapping company) reached out in time to upgrade and build a custom made, interactive map where people can pin their addresses, upload their bear images and change how their bear feels on any one day. Alongside NZ Bear Hunt a online mini-series has been created called “Anthony’s Windows”, it brings the bears of the windows to life and was released to the public on 16 April. The story themes touch on issues that people may be facing in lockdown and in everyday life e.g. conflict, isolation, friendships, identity and belonging.
Coverage in terms of number of people affected, geography, and demography for this initiative: This is a nation-wide initiative and people of all ages are participating, there have also been touches of global interest. It has been endorsed by communities throughout New Zealand with Air New Zealand, The NZ Police, St John and even Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern taking part. At the time of nomination there have been 30,000 bears pinned to the map and many more who aren’t pinned, but are still popping up in windows and on fences.
Success to date of the initiative to encourage walking and meet its objectives. The number of registra
tions is indicative of the movement’s success. Some bear window displays change daily, and NZ Bear Hunt provided colouring crafts to support Easter and Anzac themes, many things that keep the game interesting and interactive for hosts and walkers. Anecdotally it appears that families with children are finding the walking is incidental as the joy of discovery is the motivation to get out on the street.
There has been no funding and all services supporting NZ Bear Hunt have been pro-bono and donated. e.g. website design, social media support, More FM advertising, mapping company, Anthony’s Windows.
Potential applicability of initiative to other locations or organisations: There has been international interest in the mapping service and NZ Bear Hunt has received emails and comments from people overseas who are taking part. This is also an initiative that fits very nicely into current mental health awareness work particularly in that it reflects the “5 ways to wellbeing”: take notice, give, learn, connect and be active. Not many single activities bring all 5 together so well.
Relative uniqueness and innovation of this initiative in NZ: Once the media picked up the story, the concept of putting a bear in your window took off organically, however the point of difference for NZ Bear Hunt was the supporting map and website, alongside the Facebook page. NZ Bear Hunt also has a keen interest in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of NZ and have a “need help” page on their website linking to key organisations at this time.